Near-eye light-field display system

ABSTRACT

A near-eye light field display for use with a head mounted display unit with enhanced resolution and color depth. A display for each eye is connected to one or more actuators to scan each display, increasing the resolution of each display by a factor proportional to the number of scan points utilized. In this way, the resolution of near-eye light field displays is enhanced without increasing the size of the displays.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application Ser.No. 62/152,893, filed Apr. 26, 2015, which is hereby incorporated hereinby reference in its entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The disclosed technology relates generally to near-eye displays, andmore particularly, some embodiments relate to near-eye systems havinglight-field displays.

DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ART

Head-mounted displays (“HMDs”) are generally configured such that one ormore displays are placed directly in front of a person's eyes. HMDs havebeen utilized in various applications, including gaming, simulation, andmilitary uses. Traditionally, HMDs have comprised heads-up displays,wherein the user focuses on the display in front of the eyes, as imagesare traditionally displayed on a two-dimensional (“2D”) surface. Opticsare used to make the display(s) appear farther away than it actually is,in order to allow for a suitable display size to be utilized so close tothe human eye. Despite the use of optics, however, HMDs generally havelow resolution because of trade-offs related to the overall weight andform factor of the HMD, as well as pixel pitch.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF EMBODIMENTS

According to various embodiments of the disclosed technology, a headmounted display for generating light field representations is provided.The head mounted display comprises an array of lenses (comprising aplurality of light field lenses) positioned opposite and parallel to anarray of displays (comprising a plurality of light sources). The arrayof lenses may be configured to capture light rays from one or more lightsources of the array of displays to generate a near-eye light fieldrepresentation. The head mounted display may include an exterior housingconfigured to support the edge of the array of lenses, and an interiorhousing configured to support the array of displays disposed on asurface of the interior housing. In some embodiments, the exteriorhousing and the interior housing may be positioned such that thedistance between the array of lenses and the array of displays remainsfixed. In other embodiments, a vertical motion actuator may be disposedbetween the interior housing and the exterior housing such that theinterior housing may be moved vertically relative to the exteriorhousing to increase or reduce the distance between the two arrays, orvice versa.

Other features and aspects of the disclosed technology will becomeapparent from the following detailed description, taken in conjunctionwith the accompanying drawings, which illustrate, by way of example, thefeatures in accordance with embodiments of the disclosed technology. Thesummary is not intended to limit the scope of any inventions describedherein, which are defined solely by the claims attached hereto.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The technology disclosed herein, in accordance with one or more variousembodiments, is described in detail with reference to the followingfigures. The drawings are provided for purposes of illustration only andmerely depict typical or example embodiments of the disclosedtechnology. These drawings are provided to facilitate the reader'sunderstanding of the disclosed technology and shall not be consideredlimiting of the breadth, scope, or applicability thereof. It should benoted that for clarity and ease of illustration these drawings are notnecessarily made to scale.

FIG. 1 is an example diagram illustrating the basic theory of near-eyelight field displays in accordance with embodiments of the technologydescribed herein.

FIG. 2 is an example diagram illustrating when an object falls withinthe field of view of two lenses of an array of lenses in accordance withembodiments of the technology disclosed herein.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a basic configuration of a head mountdisplay in accordance with embodiments of the technology disclosedherein.

FIG. 4 illustrates an example improved near-eye display system inaccordance with embodiments of the technology disclosed herein.

FIG. 5 is an example light field system in accordance with embodimentsof the technology disclosed herein.

FIGS. 6A and 6B illustrate an example scan pattern and enhancedresolution in accordance with embodiments of the technology disclosedherein.

FIG. 7 is an diagram illustrating the enhanced resolution capable inaccordance with embodiments of the technology disclosed herein.

FIG. 8 is an example display configuration having one or more sensorsdisposed in between pixels of the display in accordance with embodimentsof the technology disclosed herein.

FIG. 9A illustrates an example array of lenses in accordance withembodiments of the technology disclosed herein.

FIG. 9B illustrates another example array of lenses in accordance withembodiments of the technology disclosed herein.

FIG. 10 illustrates an example light source array in accordance withembodiments of the technology disclosed herein.

FIG. 11 illustrates a cross-sectional view of an example near-eyedisplay system in accordance with embodiments of the technologydisclosed herein.

FIG. 12 illustrates another cross-sectional view of an example near-eyedisplay system in accordance with embodiments of the technologydisclosed herein.

FIG. 13 is an example basic light field system in accordance withembodiments of the technology disclosed herein.

FIG. 14 illustrates an example process flow in accordance withembodiments of the technology disclosed herein.

FIG. 15 is another example light field system in accordance withembodiments of the technology disclosed herein.

FIG. 16 illustrates an example augmentation flow in accordance withembodiments of the technology disclosed herein.

FIG. 17 illustrates an example computing module that may be used inimplementing various features of embodiments of the disclosedtechnology.

The figures are not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the inventionto the precise form disclosed. It should be understood that theinvention can be practiced with modification and alteration, and thatthe disclosed technology be limited only by the claims and theequivalents thereof.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

As discussed above, HMDs generally employ one or more displays placed infront of the human eye. 2D images are shown on the displays, and the eyefocuses on the display itself. In order to provide a clear, focusedimage, optics placed between the eye and the display make the displayappear farther away than the display may actually be in reality. In thisway, the eye is capable of focusing beyond the space occupied by thedisplay.

HMDs are generally either too large, have limited resolution, or acombination of both. This is due to the distance between pixels in thedisplay, or pixel pitch. When there is sufficient distance between thedisplay and the eye, pixel pitch does not impact resolution to a greatextent, as the space between pixels is not as noticeable. However, HMDsplace displays near the eye, making pixel pitch an important limitingfactor related to resolution. In order to increase resolution, largerdisplays are necessary to increase the number of pixels in the display.Larger displays require larger optics to create the illusion of spacebetween the eye and the display.

Traditionally, the display in a HMD is a 2D surface projecting a 2Dimage to each eye. Some HMDs utilize waveguides in an attempt tosimulate 3D images. Waveguides, however, are complex, requiring precisedesign and manufacture to avoid errors in beam angle and beamdivergence.

One solution that provides true three-dimensional images is the use ofnear-eye light field displays. Similar to light field cameras, anear-eye light field display creates a representation of light as itcrosses a plane that provides information not only relating to theintensity of the light, but also to the direction of the light rays.Traditional 2D displays only provide information regarding the intensityof light on a plane. Waveguides with diffractive optical elements may beused to synthesize light rays on a plane, but this approach is complex,requiring precise design and manufacture to avoid errors in light rayangle and divergence.

Embodiments of the technology disclosed herein are directed towardsystems and methods for near-eye light field displays. Moreparticularly, the various embodiments of the technology disclosed hereinrelate to near-eye light field displays providing enhanced resolutionand color depth compared to conventional near-eye light field displays.As described in greater detail below, embodiments of the technologydisclosed herein enable near-eye display systems with true light-fieldrepresentations, providing true 3D imaging with greater resolution, andwithout the need for complex waveguides. By scanning a light sourcearray, such as an LED or OLED display, while controlling the intensityof the light source away in synchronization with the scan pattern, theimpact of pixel pitch is reduced, resulting in increased resolutionwithout the need for larger displays or optics. In some embodiments, theintensity modulation of the pixels is achieved by turning the pixels onand off for a time duration that is dependent on the desired intensity.For example, if higher intensity is desired on a red pixel than on ablue pixel, the red pixel would be lit up longer than the blue pixel. Insome embodiments, the intensity modulation of the pixels is achieved byadjusting the current or voltage to the light emitter in the pixel.

Moreover, the distance between the light source array and an array oflenses may be adjusted during the retention time of the human eye. Inthis way, the rays from one or more lenses in the array of lensesprovide the depth cues for an image within the field of view of the HMD.In some embodiments, the Z-direction motion may be achieved by one ormore vertical actuators, separate from the actuators utilized forlateral movement of the light source displays. In some embodiments, saidvertical actuators may be used to move a lens. In various embodiments,one or more actuators may be utilized which are capable of both lateral(in-plane) and vertical (out-of-plane) movement of the light sourcedisplays, without the need for separate, particularized actuators foreach type of movement. In this manner, true light-field display ispossible, without the need for the use of light-field cameras orcontinually changing the focus of image capture cameras and piecing theimages together into a representation. Non-limiting examples of suchvertical actuators and dual-plane (in-plane & out-of-plane) actuatorsinclude actuators disclosed in co-pending U.S. patent application Ser.No. 15/089,276, filed Apr. 1, 2016, the disclosure of which is hereinincorporated by reference in its entirety.

By employing embodiments of the systems and methods described below, itis possible to reduce the size and/or enhance the resolution and colorof traditional HMDs, or convert a traditional HMD into a light fielddisplay.

FIG. 1 illustrates the basic operation of a near-eye light field display100 in accordance with embodiments of the technology disclosed herein.As illustrated, the near-eye light field display 100 comprises a lightsource array 110 and an array of lenses 120. Non-limiting examples of alight source array 110 include an LED, OLED, LCD, plasma, laser, orother electronic visual display technology. The array of lenses 120 maycomprise a plurality of lenses, each configured to provide a differentperspective for objects within each lens's field of view. In someembodiments, array of lenses 120 may comprise a plurality ofinjection-molded lenses. By capturing multiple views of the same fieldof view, the direction of the rays of light as they impact the differentsections of the lenses are captured, providing an indication of thelocation and depth of the object within the field of view, representedby the virtual image 130 illustrated in FIG. 1. This virtual image 130represents the actual position of an object in space, which is beyondthe point in space where the light source array 110 is located. Thearray of lenses 120 enables the eye 140 to focus not on the point inspace occupied by the light source 120, but instead to focus on thepoint in space represented by the virtual image 130.

In other words, by utilizing a near-eye light field display, the eyescan “look through” the display and focus on a virtual image 130 beyondthe light source (display) 110. Note, however, that divergence of therays of light is provided by the distance between the light source array110 and the array of lenses 120. If the spacing between the light sourcearray 110 and the array of lenses 120 is decreased, the divergence ofthe rays of light will increase, and the virtual image 130 will appearto be closer. Conversely, if the spacing between the light source array110 and the array of lenses 120 is increased, the divergence of the raysof light will decrease, and the virtual image 130 will appear to befurther away. Accordingly, a light field display may be constructed froma traditional HMD by providing a means of adjusting the focus distancebetween the light source array 110 and the array of lenses 120 accordingto the desired apparent distance of the virtual image 130. Thisadjustment in focus distance changes the direction of the rays asrequired for a light field display. In various embodiments, the focusadjustment is done within the retention time of the eye while differentportions of the light source array are lit up so that different portionsof the virtual image 130 appear at different distances. The focusadjustment is done when the focus of the eye changes in someembodiments, as can happen when the user looks at objects that arecloser or further away.

When the virtual image 130 is within the field of view (FOV) of multiplelenses within the array of lenses 120, the rays entering the eye 140representing the virtual image 130 may come from more than one lens.FIG. 2 illustrates such an example arrangement in accordance withembodiments of the technology disclosed herein. As an initial matter, itwill be noted that, throughout the present disclosure, like-numberedelements as between the various figures may generally be substantiallysimilar in nature, and letters—e.g., a, b, c, etc.—may be used to denotevarious instances of these elements. Any exceptions to this generalitywill either be explained herein, and/or will be apparent to one ofordinary skill in the art upon studying the present disclosure.

As illustrated in FIG. 2, the virtual image 130 rests within the FOV oftwo lenses of the array of lenses 120. Although described with respectto an object falling within the FOV of only two lenses of the array oflenses 120, a person of ordinary skill would appreciate that a virtualimage 130 may fall within the FOV of more than two lenses of the arrayof lenses 120 in other embodiments. The light source display 110includes two point sources 240 a, 240 b such that the light sourcedisplay 110 is capable of properly displaying the virtual image 130within the FOV of each lens, respectively. Proper alignment of the pointsource 240 a, 240 b is necessary to ensure that the image created byeach lens, respectively, overlap, enabling the human eye to properlyrecreate the virtual image. Accordingly, both the focus and lateralposition of the light source array 110 are equally important to ensure aproper, true light field display. This is true not only when an objectis within the FOV of multiple lenses of the array of lenses 120, butalso when the eye 140 moves.

FIG. 3 shows a basic diagram of an example HMD 300 in accordance withembodiments of the technology disclosed herein. FIG. 3 is a top view ofthe example HMD 300, meaning that the view is looking down on the top ofa human head. The basic diagram is not intended to be exclusive of allcomponents of a near-eye HMD in accordance with the present disclosure,and actual implementations may have different configurations and formfactors. A person of ordinary skill would appreciate that the diagram isintended merely to describe the basic components of the HMD 300, andthat other embodiments are applicable.

As illustrated in FIG. 3, the HMD 300 is configured to sit in front of auser's eyes 140, similar to a pair of glasses. The HMD 300 comprises twoimaging display systems 320 a, 320 b positioned in front of the user'seyes 140. The imaging display systems 320 a, 320 b includes thecomponents for generating images, such as the light source array 110,array of lenses 120, and other components discussed above with respectto FIGS. 1 and 2. As illustrated, the imaging display systems 320 a, 320b may be curved, but in some embodiments the imaging display systems 320a, 320 b may be flat or a combination of curved and flat portions. Forexample, in some embodiments, the array of lenses 120 may be curved asif on the surface of a sphere such that the optical axis of each lenspasses approximately through the center of rotation of the eye. In someembodiments, the curvature may be larger such that the optical axis ofeach lens passes approximately through the pupil of the eye when facingforward. In some embodiments, the curvature is such that the opticalaxis of each lens passes somewhere between the center of rotation of theeye and the pupil of the eye when facing forward. In some embodiments,the imaging display systems 320 a, 320 b may be opaque. The componentsof the imaging display systems 320 a, 320 b will be discussed in greaterdetail with respect to FIG. 5.

Cameras 310 a, 310 b may be disposed on the HMD 300 in variousembodiments. The cameras 310 a, 310 b are configured to capture theuser's FOV. Although shown as being disposed such that the cameras 310a, 310 b are positioned on the side of the user's head, otherembodiments may have cameras disposed elsewhere on the basic near-eyedisplay 300. In some embodiments, the cameras 310 a, 310 b may bedisposed on the top and/or the bottom of the imaging display systems 320a, 320 b, respectively. In some embodiments, the HMD 300 may includemultiple cameras per imaging display system 320 a, 320 b, respectively.Various different types of image sensors may comprise the cameras 310 a,310 b. Non-limiting examples of image sensors that may be cameras 310 a,310 b include: video cameras; light-field cameras; infrared (IR)cameras; low-light designed cameras; wide dynamic range cameras, highspeed cameras, or thermal imaging sensors; among others. In variousembodiments, the basic near-eye display 300 may include a combination ofthe above identified image sensors to provide a variety of imaging datato the subject, whether all at once or in different operational modes.

The cameras 310 a, 310 b and the imaging display systems 320 a, 320 bmay be combined within a housing 330. The housing 330 enables theimaging display systems 320 a, 320 b to be positioned in front of theuser's eyes 140. In various embodiments, the housing 330 may beconfigured as a pair of eyeglasses, with the imaging display systems 320a, 320 b positioned with the glass lenses are generally positioned. Insome embodiments, the housing 330 may be configured to wrap around theeyes 140 to prevent any outside light from entering the HMD 300. Avariety of components may be included in the housing 330 to maintain thepositioning of the HMD 300 on the user's head. Various embodiments mayinclude nasal supports to allow the HMD 300 to rest on the user's nose(not pictured). Various embodiments may include inter pupillary distance(IPD) adjustment so that the distance between one display system 320 aand the second display system 320 b may be adjusted to substantiallymatch the distance between the user's eyes. In some embodiments, thehousing 330 may include ear supports to rest on the user's ears (notpictured). The housing 330 may wrap around the user's head, similar toswimming or welding goggles. The housing 330 may include a webbingstructure to support the HMD 300 by resting across the skull of thesubject, similar to the supporting webbing structure of hard hats. Thesupports of the housing 330 may include an adjustable strap to allow theHMD 300 to be modified to fit correctly on a user's head.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating the components included within anexample near-eye light field system 400 in accordance with embodimentsof the technology of the present disclosure. The near-eye light fieldsystem 400 may be implemented in an HMD, such as the HMD 300 discussedwith respect to FIG. 3, to provide a true 3D representation of a scenein the user's FOV, mimicking transparent eyeglasses. Although discussedwith respect to this example embodiments, after reading the descriptionherein it will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art that thedisclosed technology can be implemented in any of a number of differentHMD applications.

The example near-eye light field system 400 of FIG. 4 includes aprocessor unit 420, one or more cameras 410, gyros/accelerometers 430,actuator control components 450, and imaging display systems 470 havingone or more source displays 460 and actuators 440. The one or morecameras 410 may be similar to the cameras 310 a, 310 b discussed withrespect to FIG. 3. As discussed above, the one or more cameras 410 maybe configured to capture objects within the FOV of the user and, incombination with the imaging display systems 470, present the scenewithin the user's FOV to the user's eyes, as if nothing was blocking theuser's view. In some embodiments, the one or more cameras 410 may belight field cameras, which are designed to capture a light fieldrepresentation of the field of view of the camera (i.e., the light ofthe images are broken up by an array of lenses disposed in front of animage sensor to capture both intensity and direction of the light).Other embodiments may utilize other image sensors as the one or morecameras 410, such as traditional video cameras. In such embodiments, theone or more traditional cameras would capture a series of pictures atdifferent focal depths.

The images from the one or more cameras 410 may be fed into processorunit 420 to compute a true light field representation of the actualimage at different depths based on the captured images. For example,where a traditional camera is used, the images from the one or morecameras 610 may comprise a series of pictures at different focal depths.To create the three dimensional actual image, the different capturedimages are processed to provide depth to the actual image. The computedlight field is used to compute when the light source array (such aslight source array 110 discussed with respect to FIG. 1) are turned onto generate the correct light field on the surface of the array oflenses during scanning of the light source array by one or moreactuators.

In some embodiments, the near-eye light field system 400 may include oneor more gyroscopes or accelerometers 430, providing informationrepresentative of the particular position of the user's head.Furthermore, the images captured by the one or more cameras 410 may beprocessed to determine the motion of the user's head, as well. Thisinformation may be fed into the processor unit 420 to utilize incomputing the light field to account for changes in the position of theuser's head.

The near-eye light field system 400 may include one or more imagingdisplay systems 470. The imaging display system 470 may be similar tothe imaging display systems 320 a, 320 b discussed with respect to FIG.3. The imaging display system 470 of FIG. 4 may include one or moresource displays 460 and one or more actuators 440, as well as an arrayof lenses (not pictured). The processor unit 420 may be communicativelycoupled to the one or more source displays 460, for example, through adriver associated with each source display 460. In this way, theprocessor unit 420 may control illumination of the lighting elements ofthe one or more source displays 460 to generate the correct light fieldrepresentation on the array of lenses. In various embodiments, theprocessor unit 420 may also be communicatively coupled to the actuatorcontrol components 450, which control the actions of the one or moreactuators 440. In this way, the movement of the one or more actuators440 may be synchronized with the illumination of the one or more sourcedisplays 460.

FIG. 5 illustrates an example imaging display system 500 in accordancewith embodiments of the technology disclosed herein. The example imagingdisplay system 500 may be similar to the imaging display systemsdiscussed with respect to FIGS. 3 and 4. The example imaging displaysystem 500 may be implemented in a plurality of different HMD solutions,independent of the form factor of the HMD. For ease of discussion, theimaging display system 500 is shown for a single source display andlens. One of ordinary skill will appreciate that the discussion isapplicable to the one or more source displays of the light source arrayand each lens of the array of lenses discussed with respect to FIGS. 1and 2. The single source display/lens arrangement shown in FIG. 5illustrates the basic structure of the example imaging display system500. Although discussed as such, nothing in this description should beinterpreted to limit the scope of the present disclosure to systems witha single light source display and light field lens.

As illustrated, the example imaging display system 500 includes a sourcedisplay 510, actuator 520, light field lens 560, processor unit 540, andactuator control components 530. Non-limiting examples of a sourcedisplay 510 include an LED, OLED, LCD, plasma, or other electronicvisual display technologies. The processor unit 540 may be connected tothe source display 510 to control the illumination of the pixels of thesource display 510, similar to the processor unit 420 discussed withrespect to FIG. 4.

In some embodiments the processor unit 540 may include one or more of amicroprocessor, memory, a field programmable gate array (FPGA), and/ordisplay and drive electronics. A light field lens 560 is disposedbetween the source display 510 and the use's eye (not pictured). In someembodiments, the light field lens 560 is composed of multiple lensesarranged along the optical axis in order to improve the opticalperformance as compared with a single lens.

As discussed above, embodiments of the technology disclosed hereinenable enhanced resolution without the need for larger displays. Thishelps to reduce the overall cost, size, and weight of HMDs and near-eyedisplays. As illustrated in FIG. 5, the source display 510 may bedisposed on one or more actuators 520. In various embodiments, the oneor more actuators 520 may include one or more of: voice coil motors(“VCMs”); shape memory alloy (“SMA”) actuators; piezoelectric actuators;MEMS actuators; a combination thereof; among others. In some examples,the one or more actuators 520 may comprise a MEMS actuator similar tothe MEMS actuator disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No.14/630,437, filed Feb. 24, 2015, the disclosure of which is herebyincorporated herein by reference in its entirety. Non-limiting examplesof material for connecting the source display 510 to the one or moreactuators include: epoxy; solder; metal pastes; wire bonding; amongothers. To control the actuators 520, the imaging display system 500 mayinclude actuator control components 530, including electronics forcontrolling the actuators and sensors identifying the position of theactuators 520. The actuator control components 530 are similar to theactuator control components 450 discussed with respect to FIG. 4. Invarious embodiments, the actuator control components 530 and sourcedisplay 510 may be synchronized with the movement of the one or moreactuators 520.

To enhance the resolution of the source display 510, scanning of thesource display 510 through the use of the one or more actuators 520enhances spatial resolution of images, i.e., how closely lines can beresolved in an image. In terms of pixels, the greater the number ofpixels per inch (“ppi”), the clearer the image that may be resolved.FIG. 6A illustrates a source display comprising four different coloredpixels 610 (red, blue, green, and yellow), and the motion of the sourcedisplay by one or more actuators, in accordance with embodiments of thetechnology of the present disclosure. As the source display is scannedby the one or more actuators, the pixels of illuminated in asynchronized pattern. In the illustrated example, the source display ismoved in a raster scan 620. The type of scan pattern utilized in otherembodiments may be taken into account when computing the synchronizedpattern. In general, the scan pattern can be any desired Lissajous orsimilar figure obtained by having a different frequency of repetition(not necessarily sinusoidal) for the scan in the x axis and the scan inthe orthogonal y axis. In other words, the scan pattern discussed withrespect to FIG. 6A concerns lateral (in-plane) motion.

As illustrated in FIG. 6A, each pixel is translated to be illuminatednear each black dot in the pattern 620, essentially turning eachindividual pixel into a 4×4 mini-display. Other embodiments may employother scan patterns 620, including but not limited to a 3×3 pattern or a2×2 pattern. By scanning every pixel in accordance with the scan pattern620, each mini 4×4 display overlaps the others, creating a virtualdisplay having full color superposition (i.e., all colors arerepresented at each pixel position). This is illustrated in FIG. 6B.Every pixel position contains all colors contained in the display (e.g.red, green, yellow and blue) and thus can accurately represent anycolor. Moreover, the number of pixels per inch of each color isincreased by a factor of 16, resulting in higher resolution without theneed to utilize a larger display having a greater number of pixels perinch. If the display originally has a VGA resolution with 640 by 480pixels, the scanning converts it into a display with 2,560 by 1,920pixels, two times better than 1080p resolution. The overall increase inresolution is proportional to the number of scan points included withinthe scan pattern 620.

FIG. 7 illustrates the benefits of scanning a light source array inaccordance with the example scan pattern of FIGS. 6A and 6B. The Y-axisindicates the intensity of light from a light source, such as a lightsource array, while the X-axis indicates the angle of the light. Angleis shown because the human eye detects intensity as a function of angle.Also, lateral position of the light source array is converted to angleby the light field lens. With traditional displays, such as LEDdisplays, as the light is modulated, the intensity of the light changesas a function of angle in discrete steps, as illustrated by blocks 710of FIG. 7. Each step represented by blocks 710 represents one pixel inthe fixed display. The figure shows the case for a display with 100%fill factor where there is no space between pixels. In otherembodiments, the display may have a fill factor less than 100%, leavinga gap between pixels with zero intensity. In other embodiments, whentaking color into account, many of the pixels will be black whenreproducing an image of a single color and gaps between pixels with zerointensity will be even larger. The intensity as a function of angle witha fixed display is pixelated, meaning there are discrete steps inintensity in the transition from one pixel to the next that are ofsufficiently low angular resolution as to be perceivable by the eye. Bymoving the display, however, the convolution of the pixel pitch and thechange in angle of the modulated light produces a smoother curve 720,indicating greater resolution. This results in enhanced resolution, ascan be appreciated when compared to the desired resolution indicated by730. Some embodiments may result in near perfect resolution. In variousembodiments, the intensity modulation for each pixel may itself bedigitized rather than continuous, as it may be updated once every frame,but there is still significant improvement in resolution compared withthe fixed display.

Another benefit of scanning the display is the ability to includedifferent sensors within the display without sacrificing resolution.FIG. 8 illustrates an example display configuration 800 in accordancewith embodiments of the technology disclosed herein. As illustrated, thedisplay configuration 800 includes pixels in three colors (blue, red,and green). Dispersed in between the colored pixels are sensors 810.Each sensor 810 may be configured to scan a small portion of the eye asthe actuator moves the display 800. The scanning by each sensor 810 mayfollow the same scan pattern as discussed above with respect to FIGS. 6Aand 6B. The sensors 810 may pick up differences in the light reflectedby different portions of the eye, distinguishing between the iris,pupil, and the whites of the eyes. In some embodiments, the sensors 810may be used to determine the light reflected from the retina. In someembodiments, the light reflected from the retina may be used to imagethe retina and used for identification of the user, medical diagnosis,or any other application that benefits from imaging of the retina. Insome embodiments, the light reflected from the retina may be used todetermine the focus of the eye. For example, when the eye is focused atthe current position of the display, the light from the display forms asmall point on the retina. The reflected light similarly forms a smalldot on the display surface where the sensors are located. In oneembodiment, the focus of the eye is determined by measuring the sizeand/or position of the reflected spot from the retina on the displaysurface. In some embodiments, the sensors 810 may distinguish betweendifferent parts of the eye based on the light reflected or refracted offthe eye. As the sensors are disposed in the space in between pixels, thescanning of the display in accordance with the scan pattern allows forthe same proportional increase in resolution while still includingsensors 810 in the display configuration 800. In one embodiment, thesensors 810 are incorporated into the same process that is used tofabricate the RGB display pixels. For example, if the display elementsare light emitting diodes (LED), the sensors may also be LED but reversebiased to sense light rather than emit it.

In various embodiments, the light field lenses are designed to captureas much light as possible, while maintaining a resolution better than ahuman eye. In some embodiments, each light field lens may be designedwith an aperture between 5 and 10 mm. Light field lenses with variousaperture sizes may be combined into a single lens array in someembodiments. The focal length of each light field lens may be between 7and 20 mm. This focal length is for the light field lens itself, anddoes not take into account chromatic aberration within each lens.Chromatic aberration results in light of different colors havingdifferent focal lengths. To account for chromatic aberration in eachlight field lens in various embodiments, each colored pixel may beturned on during scanning at different focal positions, thereby ensuringthat the different colored light impacts the eye at the same focalpoint. In other embodiments, standard techniques for minimizingchromatic aberration may be used, such as but not limited to doubletsand diffraction gratings. Where LEDs are another Lambertian emitter(distributed source) is utilized, a microlens may be disposed on top ofthe light source, to account for the distributed nature of the light.

As discussed above, in some embodiments the light field lenses may beincorporated into an array of lenses that is disposed between the lightsource displays and the eye. FIG. 9A illustrates an example array oflenses in accordance with embodiments of the technology disclosedherein. In the example array of lenses, each lens 901 comprises aplano-convex lens. In various embodiments, other lens shapes may beused. In some embodiments, three aspheric lenses may be used, where thefirst lens is positive power, the second lens is negative power, and thelast lens is low power. In some embodiments, three aspheric lenses maybe used, where the first lens is negative power, the second lens ispositive power, and the last lens is low power. In some embodiments,five aspheric lenses may be used, where the first lens is positivepower, the second lens is negative power, the third lens is positivepower, and the fourth and fifth lenses are low power. Each lens 901 maybe configured to capture light from a single light display in someembodiments, or multiple lenses 901 may be configured to capture lightfrom one or more light displays in embodiments where an array of lightsource displays is utilized. Each lens 901 may be made of anytransparent material, including but not limited to plastic or glass. Insome embodiments, lenses are plastic injection molded. To reducescattering of the light rays at the transitions between lenses 901, anopaque mask 902 may be applied on the planar side at each transitionpoint each lens 901. The opaque mask 902 may be made of an opaquematerial, including but not limited to soma. The opaque mask 902 isdesigned to eliminate light rays from scattering at the edges of thelens 901 in the transition points, eliminating the effects of scatteredlight on the resolution and the generated light field representation.

The array of lenses illustrated in FIG. 9A may be utilized with a planardisplay. Where a curved display is utilized, a modified array of lensesmay be configured to more accurately capture the light from thedisplays. FIG. 9B illustrates an example curved array of lenses inaccordance with embodiments of the technology disclosed herein. Asillustrated in FIG. 9B, the array of lenses comprises a plurality oflenses 901 configured to mate with each other at seams 903 when foldedinto a curved shape. The seams 903 may comprise an opaque mask, similarto the opaque mask 902 discussed with respect to FIG. 9A, doubling asboth a shield to eliminate scattering of light at the transition betweenthe lenses and a hinge for the lenses to be folded into the proper shapefor each embodiment. In some embodiments, the seams 903 may be formed bya thinned portion of the same material comprising the lenses 901. Thenumber of sides of each lens 901 may vary depending on the number oflenses to be included in the design of the array of lenses. In someembodiments, each lens may have four or more sides. In variousembodiments, each lens 901 will have the same number of sides as theother lenses in the array of lenses. In other embodiments, a first setof lenses will have a first number of sides, and a second set of lenseswill have a second number of sides, similar to the example illustratedin FIG. 9B. In other embodiments, the lens array may be molded directlyinto a curved shape without the need for folding.

As discussed above, the curved array of lenses discussed with respect toFIG. 9B is suitable for use with a curved array of light sourcedisplays. FIG. 10 illustrates an example array of light source displays1000 in accordance with embodiments of the technology disclosed herein.As illustrated in FIG. 10, the curved array of light source displays1000 may have a similar shape as the array of lenses discussed withrespect to FIG. 9B. The curved array of light source displays 1000includes a plurality of light source displays 1001. In variousembodiments, each light source display 1001 may be disposed on a rigidcircuit board 1002. In some embodiments, more than one light sourcedisplay 1001 may be disposed on each rigid circuit board 1002. Eachrigid circuit board 1002 may have a shape similar to each lens in theassociated array of lenses. Each light source display 1001 may bemounted on top of an actuator, the actuator being disposed on the rigidcircuit board 1002. Each rigid circuit board 1002 may be connectedtogether with a flexible circuit 1003, enabling the rigid circuit boards1002 to be shaped into the curve shape. A connector 104 connects thelight source displays 1001 and actuators (when present) to the rest ofthe system.

FIG. 11 illustrates a cross-sectional view of an example near-eyedisplay system 1100 in accordance with embodiments of the technology ofthe present disclosure. The example near-eye display system 1100includes an array of lenses 1101 (similar to the array of lensesdiscussed with respect to FIG. 9B) disposed opposite an array ofdisplays 1102 (similar to the array of light source displays 1000discussed with respect to FIG. 10). In some embodiments, supports 1103may be connected to the transition points of the array of lenses 1101and the flexible circuit of the array of displays 1102. The supports1103 may maintain the distance between the two arrays remains fixed,ensuring that a proper light field representation is generated.

The outside edges of the array of lenses 1101 may be connected to anexterior platform 1104, while the array of displays 1102 may beconnected to an interior platform 1105 in various embodiments. In thismanner, the near-eye display system 1100 may be modularly constructed,with the array of lenses portion may be constructed separately from thearray of displays portion, and combined after fabrication. The exteriorplatform 1104 and/or the interior platform 1105 may further beconfigured to house additional components of the near-eye display system1100, including but not limited to: control computer or processingcomponents; cameras; memories; or motion sensors, such as gyroscopes,accelerometers, or other motion sensors; or a combination thereof. Theexterior platform 1104 and interior platform 1105 may be created throughinjection molding or press molding, and may comprise of many differentmaterials, including but not limited to plastic.

In some embodiments, the light source displays of the array of displays1102 may be disposed on an actuator configured to provide both in-planescanning, as well as out-of-plane motion. In-plane motion refers tomotion within the same horizontal plane as the actuator, whileout-of-plane motion refers to motion in the vertical direction above orbelow the actuator. In this way, a light field display may be generatedthrough scanning alone of the light source displays of the array ofdisplays 1102. In some embodiments, only a light source display locatedin the center of the array of displays 1102 may be disposed on anactuator capable of both in-plane and out-of-plane scanning. In otherembodiments, the light source displays surrounding and abutting thecentral light source display of the array of displays 1102 may bedisposed on actuators capable of in-plane and out-of-plane motion, whileall the exterior light source displays are disposed on stationary orin-plane only actuators. In some embodiments, the out-of-plane motionmay be determined based on one or more position sensors disposed on thearray of displays 1102, similar to the sensors discussed with respect toFIG. 8, to determine the proper focus for the light field representationbased on where the eye is focusing, if the user is squinting, or acombination thereof.

In some embodiments, the out-of-plane motion may be provided by movingthe array of displays relative to the array of lenses, or vice versa.FIG. 12 illustrates another cross-sectional view of an example near-eyedisplay system 1200 in accordance with embodiments of the technologydisclosed herein. The near-eye display system 1200 is similar to theexample system 1100 discussed with respect to FIG. 11, with anout-of-plane motion device 1206 included. The out-of-plane motion device1206 may comprise an actuator, voice coil motor (VCM), or other motiondevices in various embodiments. The voice coil motor is composed of acoil of wire and magnets. When electrical current is made to flowthrough the coil, the induced magnetic field interacts with the magnets,thus generating a controlled force. In the illustrated example, a VCM1206 is disposed on each side of the array of displays 1202, enablingthe array of displays 1202 or the array of lenses 1201 to be moved inthe vertical direction (as illustrated by the arrows including in FIG.12), for focusing. Rollers 1207 enable the interior housing 1205 to moverelative to the exterior housing 1204, or the opposite in someembodiments. In one embodiment, any lateral motion of the lens withrespect to the display during focusing is compensated by in-plane motionof the actuator under the display. In one embodiment, any lateral motionof the lens with respect to the display during focusing is compensatedby the electronic shifting of the image on the display.

Moreover, the near-eye display system 1200 further illustrates an arrayof displays 1202 where only the central light source displays of thearray of displays 1202 are disposed on actuators. The outside lightsource displays of the array of displays are disposed directly on therigid circuit board in the illustrated embodiment.

FIG. 13 is an example basic light field system 1300 in accordance withembodiments of the technology disclosed herein. As illustrated in FIG.13, the basic light field system 1300 includes at least two cameras, aleft camera 1302 and a right camera 1304. Each camera is configured toprovide an image stream to a particular eye, left and right. In manyembodiments, the left camera 1302 and right camera 1304 may include amotorized focus such that the focus of each camera 1302, 1304 can bechanged dynamically. The focus of each camera 1302, 1304 may becontrolled by a camera focus control 1306. In some embodiments, eachcamera 1302, 1304 may have an independent camera focus control 1306,respectively.

The focus of each camera 1302, 1304 may be controlled based on the focusof the user's eyes. The basic light field system 1300 may include eyefocus sensors 1308, 1310 disposed within a display in front of the lefteye and right eye, respectively. Each eye focus sensor 1308, 1310 mayinclude one or more focus sensors in various embodiments. In someembodiments, the eye focus sensors 1308, 1310 may be disposed in thespaces between the pixels of a left display 1312 and a right display1314. The eye focus sensors 1308, 1310 may be used to determine where auser's eyes are focused. The information from the eye focus sensors1308, 1310 may be fed into a focus correction module 1316. The focuscorrection module 1316 may determine the correct focus based on thepoint where the user's eyes are focused, and provide this information toa display focus control 1318. The display focus control 1318 may providethis information to the camera focus control 1306. The camera focuscontrol 1306 may utilize the focus information from the display focuscontrol 1318 to set the focus of each camera 1302, 1304. The vision of auser with eye focus problems (myopia or hyperopia, nearsighted orfarsighted) can be corrected by setting the focus of the cameras to adifferent depth than the focus of the display. In some embodiments, thecameras 1302, 1304 may be one or more of a light field camera, astandard camera, an infrared camera, or some other image sensor, or acombination thereof. For example, in some embodiments the cameras 1302,1304 may comprise a standard camera and an infrared camera, enabling thebasic light field system 1300 to provide both a normal view and aninfrared view to the user.

The display focus control 1318 may also utilize the desired focus fromthe focus correction module 1316 to set the focus of the displays 1312,1314, to the focus of each eye.

Once the cameras 1302, 1304 are set to the desired focus, the cameras1302, 1304 may capture the scene within the field of view of each camera1302, 1304. The images from each camera 1302, 1304 may be processed by aprocessor unit 1320, 1322. As illustrated, each camera 1302, 1304 hasits own processor unit 1320, 1322, respectively. In some embodiments, asingle processor unit may be employed for both cameras 1302, 1304. Theprocessor unit 1320, 1322 may process the images from each camera 1302,1304 in a similar fashion as described above with respect to FIG. 4. Forexample, the processor unit 1320, 1322 may compute a light field for usein computing a sequence to turn on different light sources on eachdisplay 1312, 1314 to provide a greater resolution during scanning ofthe displays 1312, 1314. The images are displayed to each eye via thedisplays 1312, 1314, respectively, in accordance with the light fieldsequence computed by the processor unit 1320, 1322. In some embodiments,this pseudo-light field display may be provided without scanning of thedisplays 1312, 1314. In such embodiments, although the resolution of theimage may not be enhanced, a light field may still be generated andpresented to the eyes.

Although illustrated as separate components, aspects of the basic lightfield system 1300 may be implemented as in a single component. Forexample, the focus correction 1316, the display focus control 1318, andthe camera focus control 1306 may be implemented in software andexecuted by a processor, such as processor unit 1320, 1322.

FIG. 14 illustrates an example process flow 1400 in accordance withembodiments of the technology disclosed herein. The process flow 1400 isapplicable for embodiments similar to the basic light field system 1300discussed with respect to FIG. 13. At 1410, one or more focus sensorsmeasure the eye focus of the user. The measurement may be performed byone or more sensors disposed on a display placed in front of each eye insome embodiments. The eye focus sensors may be disposed in the spacebetween pixels of each display in various embodiments, similar to theconfiguration discussed above with respect to FIG. 8.

At 1420, a desired focus is determined. The desired focus is determinedbased on the measured eye focus from 1410. The desired focus may bedifferent from the eye focus if the user has focus problems. Forexample, if the user has myopia (nearsightedness), the desired focus isfurther away than the measured eye focus. The desired focus may also bedetermined from the position of the eye, such as close if looking down,or the position of the eye with respect to the image, such as the samefocus as a certain object in the scene, or some of other measurement ofthe eye. Based on the desired focus, the camera focus may be set to thedesired focus at 1430. In various embodiments, the camera focus may beset equal to the desired focus. In other embodiments, the camera focusmay be set to a focus close to, but not equal to, the desired focus. Insuch embodiments, the camera focus may be set as close as possible basedon the type of camera employed in the embodiment.

At 1440, the cameras capture images of objects within the field of viewof the cameras. In some embodiments, the field of view of the camerasmay be larger than the displayed field of view to enable some ability toquickly update the display when there is rapid head movement, withoutthe need for capturing a new image.

At 1450, each display is set to the eye focus. In some embodiments, theeye focus is the same as the desired focus. In other embodiments, thedesired focus is derived from the eye focus identified at 1410. In someembodiments, the displays may be set to the eye focus before setting thecamera focus at 1430, after 1430 but before the camera captures imagesat 1440, or simultaneous to the actions at 1430 and/or 1440.

At 1460, the images are displayed to each eye. The images are displayedto each eye via the respective display. In some embodiments, the imagesmay be processed by a processor unit prior to being displayed, similarto the processing discussed above with respect to FIG. 13. In someembodiments, the images may be combined with computer generated imagesto generate an augmented reality image.

FIG. 15 is another example light field system 1500 in accordance withembodiments of the technology disclosed herein. As illustrated in FIG.15, the light field system 1400 contains similar components as the basiclight field system 1300 discussed with respect to FIG. 13. An inertialmeasurement unit (IMU) 1524 is included within the light field system1500 of FIG. 15. In various embodiments, the

IMU 1524 may include one or more gyroscopes, accelerometers, or othermotion or orientation sensors, or a combination thereof. The componentscomprising the IMU 1524 may track the motion of a user's head, andprovide that information to the processor and memory 1520. In this way,the position of augmented objects or images may be adjusted based on theuser's head movements. Augmentation is a way of enhancing the user'sexperience of the scene within the field of view by providing additionalinformation on objects within the field of view, or even addingcomputer-generated objects to the field of view.

FIG. 16 illustrates an example augmentation flow 1600 in accordance withembodiments of the technology disclosed herein. The augmentation flow1600 is applicable for embodiments similar to the light field system1500 discussed with respect to FIG. 15. Steps 1610, 1620, 1630, and 1640may be similar to 1410, 1420, 1430, and 1440 discussed above withrespect to FIG. 14. At 1650, objects may be added to the picture. Invarious embodiments, the added objects may be images from memory orcomputer-generated items that are located within the image, as if theobject actually was present in the real-world field of view. In someembodiments, the added objects may be used to enable gamification ofeveryday life. At 1660, the pictures are enhanced. Enhancement couldinclude, but is not limited to: zooming in on a particular object orarea within the field of view (and ensuring high resolution of theparticular object or area); adjusting colors within the field of view;adding images from another camera included in the system; or otherenhancements.

Although included within the example process 1600, both 1650 and 1660need not be performed every time. In some embodiments, only addingobjects at 1650 will occur. In other embodiments, only enhancing of theimages at 1660 will be performed. In various embodiments, both 1650 and1660 will be performed. Setting the displays to the focus of the eyes at1670 and displaying the pictures at 1680 may be similar to the setting1450 and displaying 1460 actions discussed with respect to FIG. 14.

As used herein, the term component might describe a given unit offunctionality that can be performed in accordance with one or moreembodiments of the technology disclosed herein. As used herein, acomponent might be implemented utilizing any form of hardware, software,or a combination thereof. For example, one or more processors,controllers, ASICs, PLAs, PALs, CPLDs, FPGAs, logical components,software routines or other mechanisms might be implemented to make up acomponent. In implementation, the various components described hereinmight be implemented as discrete components or the functions andfeatures described can be shared in part or in total among one or morecomponents. In other words, as would be apparent to one of ordinaryskill in the art after reading this description, the various featuresand functionality described herein may be implemented in any givenapplication and can be implemented in one or more separate or sharedcomponents in various combinations and permutations. Even though variousfeatures or elements of functionality may be individually described orclaimed as separate components, one of ordinary skill in the art willunderstand that these features and functionality can be shared among oneor more common software and hardware elements, and such descriptionshall not require or imply that separate hardware or software componentsare used to implement such features or functionality.

Where components of the technology are implemented in whole or in partusing software, in one embodiment, these software elements can beimplemented to operate with a computing or processing component capableof carrying out the functionality described with respect thereto. Onesuch example computing component is shown in FIG. 17. Variousembodiments are described in terms of this example-computing component1700. After reading this description, it will become apparent to aperson skilled in the relevant art how to implement the technology usingother computing components or architectures.

Referring now to FIG. 17, computing component 1700 may represent, forexample, computing or processing capabilities found within desktop,laptop and notebook computers; hand-held computing devices (PDA's, smartphones, cell phones, palmtops, etc.); mainframes, supercomputers,workstations or servers; or any other type of special-purpose orgeneral-purpose computing devices as may be desirable or appropriate fora given application or environment. Computing component 1700 might alsorepresent computing capabilities embedded within or otherwise availableto a given device. For example, a computing component might be found inother electronic devices such as, for example, digital cameras,navigation systems, cellular telephones, portable computing devices,modems, routers, WAPs, terminals and other electronic devices that mightinclude some form of processing capability.

Computing component 1700 might include, for example, one or moreprocessors, controllers, control modules, or other processing devices,such as a processor 1704. Processor 1704 might be implemented using ageneral-purpose or special-purpose processing engine such as, forexample, a microprocessor, controller, or other control logic. In theillustrated example, processor 1704 is connected to a bus 1702, althoughany communication medium can be used to facilitate interaction withother components of computing component 1700 or to communicateexternally.

Computing component 1700 might also include one or more memorycomponents, simply referred to herein as main memory 1708. For example,preferably random access memory (RAM) or other dynamic memory, might beused for storing information and instructions to be executed byprocessor 1704. Main memory 1708 might also be used for storingtemporary variables or other intermediate information during executionof instructions to be executed by processor 1704. Computing component1700 might likewise include a read only memory (“ROM”) or other staticstorage device coupled to bus 1702 for storing static information andinstructions for processor 1704.

The computing component 1700 might also include one or more variousforms of information storage mechanism 1710, which might include, forexample, a media drive 1712 and a storage unit interface 1720. The mediadrive 1712 might include a drive or other mechanism to support fixed orremovable storage media 1714. For example, a hard disk drive, a floppydisk drive, a magnetic tape drive, an optical disk drive, a CD or DVDdrive (R or RW), or other removable or fixed media drive might beprovided. Accordingly, storage media 1714 might include, for example, ahard disk, a floppy disk, magnetic tape, cartridge, optical disk, a CDor DVD, or other fixed or removable medium that is read by, written toor accessed by media drive 1712. As these examples illustrate, thestorage media 1714 can include a computer usable storage medium havingstored therein computer software or data.

In alternative embodiments, information storage mechanism 1710 mightinclude other similar instrumentalities for allowing computer programsor other instructions or data to be loaded into computing component1700. Such instrumentalities might include, for example, a fixed orremovable storage unit 1722 and an interface 1720. Examples of suchstorage units 1722 and interfaces 1720 can include a program cartridgeand cartridge interface, a removable memory (for example, a flash memoryor other removable memory module) and memory slot, a PCMCIA slot andcard, and other fixed or removable storage units 1722 and interfaces1720 that allow software and data to be transferred from the storageunit 1722 to computing component 1700.

Computing component 1700 might also include a communications interface1724. Communications interface 1724 might be used to allow software anddata to be transferred between computing component 1700 and externaldevices. Examples of communications interface 1724 might include a modemor softmodem, a network interface (such as an Ethernet, networkinterface card, WiMedia, IEEE 802.XX or other interface), acommunications port (such as for example, a USB port, IR port, RS232port Bluetooth® interface, or other port), or other communicationsinterface. Software and data transferred via communications interface1724 might typically be carried on signals, which can be electronic,electromagnetic (which includes optical) or other signals capable ofbeing exchanged by a given communications interface 1724. These signalsmight be provided to communications interface 1724 via a channel 1728.This channel 1728 might carry signals and might be implemented using awired or wireless communication medium. Some examples of a channel mightinclude a phone line, a cellular link, an RF link, an optical link, anetwork interface, a local or wide area network, and other wired orwireless communications channels.

In this document, the terms “computer program medium” and “computerusable medium” are used to generally refer to media such as, forexample, memory 1708, storage unit 1720, media 1714, and channel 1728.These and other various forms of computer program media or computerusable media may be involved in carrying one or more sequences of one ormore instructions to a processing device for execution. Suchinstructions embodied on the medium, are generally referred to as“computer program code” or a “computer program product” (which may begrouped in the form of computer programs or other groupings). Whenexecuted, such instructions might enable the computing component 1700 toperform features or functions of the disclosed technology as discussedherein.

While various embodiments of the disclosed technology have beendescribed above, it should be understood that they have been presentedby way of example only, and not of limitation. Likewise, the variousdiagrams may depict an example architectural or other configuration forthe disclosed technology, which is done to aid in understanding thefeatures and functionality that can be included in the disclosedtechnology. The disclosed technology is not restricted to theillustrated example architectures or configurations, but the desiredfeatures can be implemented using a variety of alternative architecturesand configurations. Indeed, it will be apparent to one of skill in theart how alternative functional, logical or physical partitioning andconfigurations can be implemented to implement the desired features ofthe technology disclosed herein. Also, a multitude of differentconstituent module names other than those depicted herein can be appliedto the various partitions. Additionally, with regard to flow diagrams,operational descriptions and method claims, the order in which the stepsare presented herein shall not mandate that various embodiments beimplemented to perform the recited functionality in the same orderunless the context dictates otherwise.

Although the disclosed technology is described above in terms of variousexemplary embodiments and implementations, it should be understood thatthe various features, aspects and functionality described in one or moreof the individual embodiments are not limited in their applicability tothe particular embodiment with which they are described, but instead canbe applied, alone or in various combinations, to one or more of theother embodiments of the disclosed technology, whether or not suchembodiments are described and whether or not such features are presentedas being a part of a described embodiment. Thus, the breadth and scopeof the technology disclosed herein should not be limited by any of theabove-described exemplary embodiments.

Terms and phrases used in this document, and variations thereof, unlessotherwise expressly stated, should be construed as open ended as opposedto limiting. As examples of the foregoing: the term “including” shouldbe read as meaning “including, without limitation” or the like; the term“example” is used to provide exemplary instances of the item indiscussion, not an exhaustive or limiting list thereof; the terms “a” or“an” should be read as meaning “at least one,” “one or more” or thelike; and adjectives such as “conventional,” “traditional,” “normal,”“standard,” “known” and terms of similar meaning should not be construedas limiting the item described to a given time period or to an itemavailable as of a given time, but instead should be read to encompassconventional, traditional, normal, or standard technologies that may beavailable or known now or at any time in the future. Likewise, wherethis document refers to technologies that would be apparent or known toone of ordinary skill in the art, such technologies encompass thoseapparent or known to the skilled artisan now or at any time in thefuture.

The presence of broadening words and phrases such as “one or more,” “atleast,” “but not limited to” or other like phrases in some instancesshall not be read to mean that the narrower case is intended or requiredin instances where such broadening phrases may be absent. The use of theterm “component” does not imply that the elements or functionalitydescribed or claimed as part of the component are all configured in acommon package. Indeed, any or all of the various elements of acomponent, whether control logic or other elements, can be combined in asingle package or separately maintained and can further be distributedin multiple groupings or packages or across multiple locations.

Additionally, the various embodiments set forth herein are described interms of exemplary block diagrams, flow charts and other illustrations.As will become apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art afterreading this document, the illustrated embodiments and their variousalternatives can be implemented without confinement to the illustratedexamples. For example, block diagrams and their accompanying descriptionshould not be construed as mandating a particular architecture orconfiguration.

What is claimed is:
 1. A head mounted display, comprising: an array oflenses comprising a plurality of light field lenses; an array ofdisplays comprising a plurality of display components, each displaycomponent comprising a light source disposed on a circuit board, atleast one display component including a light source disposed on anactuator; an exterior housing supporting the array of lenses, theexterior housing connected to an outside edge of the array of lenses; aninterior housing supporting the array of light source displays, thearray of light source arrays disposed on a top surface of the interiorhousing; wherein the array of lenses is disposed at a fixed distancefrom the array of displays, and each light field lens of the pluralityof light field lenses is parallel to at least one display component ofthe array of displays; and wherein an actuator control component iscommunicatively coupled to the array of displays and a processor unit,and configured to move the at least one light source disposed on theactuator in accordance with a scan pattern.
 2. The head mounted displayof claim 1, wherein the processor unit is configured to synchronize theillumination of a plurality of pixels of the light source with the scanpattern.
 3. The head mounted display of claim 1, wherein the lightsource comprises a OLED.
 4. The head mounted display of claim 1, whereinthe light source comprises one of: an LED; an LCD; a plasma display. 5.The head mounted display of claim 1, wherein the scan pattern comprisesa raster scan pattern configured to scan the one or more actuators inplane.
 6. The head mounted display of claim 1, wherein the scan patternresults in a Lissajous curve.
 7. The head mounted display of claim 1,further comprising one or more cameras housed in the exterior housing,each camera having a field of view encompassing a portion of a view of auser, and wherein the processor is further configured to compute a lightfield representation.
 8. The head mounted display of claim 7, whereinthe one or more cameras comprise one or more light field cameras.
 9. Thehead mounted display of claim 7, wherein the one or more camerascomprises a motorized focus.
 10. The head mounted display of claim 1,each display component comprising one or more focus sensors disposed ona surface of the display component between a plurality of pixels of thelight source on the surface of the display component.
 11. The headmounted display of claim 1, wherein the scan pattern comprises a depthscan pattern configured to scan the at least one actuator in the Z-axis.12. The head mounted display of claim 1, wherein an opaque mask isdisposed at a transition point between each light field lens of thearray of lenses, wherein the transition point comprises a point where anedge of a first light field lens meets an edge of a second light fieldlens.
 13. A head mounted display, comprising: a light field lens; aadisplay component comprising a light source disposed on an actuator; anexterior housing supporting the light field lens; an interior housingsupporting the display component disposed on a top surface of theinterior housing; wherein the light field lens is disposed opposite thedisplay component, and parallel to the display component; a verticalmotion actuator disposed between the interior housing and the exteriorhousing such that, when activated, the interior housing moves in avertical direction relative to the exterior housing to increase ordecrease the distance between the light field lens and the displaycomponent; and wherein an actuator control component is communicativelycoupled to the display component and a processor unit, and configured tomove the light source dispose on the actuator laterally and the verticalmotion actuator vertically in accordance with a scan pattern.
 14. Thehead mounted display of claim 13, wherein the processor unit isconfigured to synchronize the illumination of a plurality of pixels ofthe light source with the scan pattern.
 15. The head mounted display ofclaim 13, wherein the light source comprises an OLED.
 16. The headmounted display of claim 13, wherein the light source comprises one of:an LED; an LCD; a plasma display.
 17. The head mounted display of claim13, wherein the scan pattern comprises a raster scan pattern configuredto scan the one or more actuators in-plane.
 18. The head mounted displayof claim 13, wherein the scan pattern results in a Lissajous curve. 19.The head mounted display of claim 13, further comprising one or morecameras housed in the exterior housing, each camera having a field ofview encompassing a portion of a view of a user, and wherein theprocessor is further configured to compute a light field representation.20. The head mounted display of claim 19, wherein the one or morecameras comprise one or more light field cameras.
 21. The head mounteddisplay of claim 19, wherein the one or more cameras comprises amotorized focus.
 22. The head mounted display of claim 13, the displaycomponent comprising one or more focus sensors disposed on a surface ofthe display component between a plurality of pixels of the light sourceon the surface of the display component.
 23. The head mounted display ofclaim 13, wherein the scan pattern comprises a depth scan patternconfigured to scan the vertical motion actuator in the Z-axis.
 24. Thehead mounted display of claim 13, further comprising an array of lensescomprising a plurality of light field lenses, an array of displayscomprising a plurality of display components, at least one displaycomponent including a light source disposed on an actuator.
 25. The headmounted display of claim 24, wherein an opaque mask is disposed at atransition point between each light field lens of the array of lenses,wherein the transition point comprises a point where an edge of a firstlight field lens meets an edge of a second light field lens.